Harbours and Maritime Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems

edited by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller and Falko Daim

Book cover: Harbours and Maritime Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems

Extent: 152 pages

Publisher: LEIZA – Leibniz-Zentrum fĂĽr Archäologie

Subjects: Medieval Studies, Mediterranean Archaeology

Series: Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum - Tagungen

Series volume number: 23

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(May 2015)

ISBN: 9783795430405

8.27 x 11.65 inches

Price: $38.00

Out of stock

In this volume the concept of complex systems is used to discuss the interplay between social and environmental factors for the emergence and maintenance of maritime infrastructure and route systems in the ancient and medieval period. Part of the research programme ‘Harbours from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages’.


The concept of complex systems allows for a better understanding of the interplay between social and environmental factors for the emergence and maintenance of maritime infrastructure and route systems in the ancient and medieval period. Complexity theory and network analysis provide a analytical framework to describe social configurations (cities, maritime communities, polities) and environmental phenomena (hydrosphere, climate) as complex systems, entangled via mechanisms of feedbacks, adaptation or disruption. In this volume, this approach is applied on various phenomena of maritime history as discussed within the DFG-funded Special Research Programme (SPP 1630) “Harbours from the Roman Period to the Middle Ages” (ww.spp-haefen.de).

  • Edited by Falko Daim
  • Edited by Johannes Preiser-Kapeller